Set of vectors for the expression of histidine-tagged proteins in vacciniavirus recombinants

Vaccinia virus expression vectors are widely used to direct the expression of proteins in. eukaryotic cells. Here, we describe a new set of plasmid ve ctors designed for the expression of histidine-ragged proteins in the vacci nia system. To facilitate the rapid isolation of virus recombinants, the pl asmids contain a viral gene (F13L) that serves as an efficient selection ma rker based on virus plaque phenotype. Histidine codons and restriction site s derived from pET-16b bacterial expression plasmid were included, thus fac ilitating the transfer of genes between E. coli and vaccinia expression pla smids. Plasmids in which the gene is placed downstream of either a strong v accinia virus or a T7 promoter were constructed allowing for conservative o r conditional expression, respectively, of the foreign protein.